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Slew Foot

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
This is what Im currently running:

Dell Dimension 8400
P4 3.2 HT
1.5 GB DDR2
PCI-E x700 pro 256MB
Dell 19" LCD (FP 1905 i think)


I'd like to play Oblivion with all the bells and whistles turned on, what card would you recommend and is there anything else I would need to upgrade? I heard the stock power supply isn't strong enough for the high end cards, would I have to change that out? Thanks.

Money isnt really an issue but I dont want to fork over $500 for something that's going to lose half it's value in a couple months.
 
Soccerman06

Soccerman06

Diamond Member
Jul 29, 2004
5,830
5
81
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
This is what Im currently running:

Dell Dimension 8400
P4 3.2 HT
1.5 GB DDR2
PCI-E x700 pro 256MB
Dell 19" LCD (FP 1905 i think)


I'd like to play Oblivion with all the bells and whistles turned on, what card would you recommend and is there anything else I would need to upgrade? I heard the stock power supply isn't strong enough for the high end cards, would I have to change that out? Thanks.

Money isnt really an issue but I dont want to fork over $500 for something that's going to lose half it's value in a couple months.
Click to expand...

Well first off, what resolution you playin at then we can tell ya

But if you playin at 1280x1080, then you could probably get a x1800xt or 7900gt and be perfectly fine at those resolutions. At 1680x1050 your gonna need a 7900gtx or x1900xt to have all the bells and whistles
 
Slew Foot

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Im at work right now so I cant check but I think it was at 1024x860 (or something like that).

I turned it down from 1280x1024 (I think) because it was laggy. I'd like to play it as high as possible, Ill check when I get home (and get some sleep :) )
 
Slew Foot

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
7900GT . . .
Click to expand...

I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter....

Any specific reasons why? Would it be compatible with my current power supply set up?
Im going to assume it's PCI-e, does the amount of memory matter a bunch (256 MB vs 512MB?)

Thanks!
 
B

Barkotron

Member
Mar 30, 2006
66
0
0
If you want to play Oblivion with "all bells and whistles", then you're going to have to get an X1k series Radeon - HDR +AA just isn't possible on any other card.

I'm playing at 1280x1024, HDR + AA, everything up max, LOD texture and normal map replacement mods (looks MUCH better for distant hills), .ini tweaks for water reflecting everything, bigger RAM loads, extra multithreading etc. With 2xperformance adaptive AA, HDR and 8xHQAF on an X1900XT @ XTX clocks, I'm getting 30-40FPS running around in the West Weald, dropping to 24-27 (but no lower, for some reason: I always play with vsync on as tearing really really bugs me, so I'm guessing this is dropping down to sync, as I don't get any steps in between) if I'm in a battle with a bunch of people chucking magic about. 4xAAA (performance or quality) is just too much of a drop in wooded areas, although again I'm not sure how much this is down to vsync. If I can be bothered I'll check at some point.

It looks absolutely fantastic, by the way :). So if you can stretch to an X1900XT, I can heartily recommend it.
 
J

josh6079

Diamond Member
Mar 17, 2006
3,261
0
0
Oh ****, you had to ask for eveyones thoughts and reasons. Have you done any research? Do you think you have an idea of what you might like as far as video card specs? What games do you play a lot of? 16:10 or 4:3 ratio? Brand? Guarantees or no guarantees? 512 is nicer than 256 but once again, what games are you going to play? We need specifics and things from you too.
 
Slew Foot

Slew Foot

Lifer
Sep 22, 2005
12,379
96
86
Thanks for the help so far, I'm not a computer geek so I'd like something reliable and easy to operate. I probably wont be going widescreen anytime soon so 4:3 should be fine. Oblivion is about the only game Im playing right now but I also play RTS and the occasional FPS/driving/sports game. All my previous cards have been ATIs but Im willing to go with an Nvidia card if it works better.

Any other questions that I can answer for you guys?


Edit: I can get an x1800XT 512mb for a little under $300, would that suffice?
 
MegaWorks

MegaWorks

Diamond Member
Jan 26, 2004
3,819
1
0
Just get the X1800XT and yes it's enough to play it just fine at the resolutions you mentioned.
 
J

josh6079

Diamond Member
Mar 17, 2006
3,261
0
0
Wow, it didn't catch on fire.

Either of those cards will work nicely depending on what settings you want (e.g. in Oblivion).
 
C

CaiNaM

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
3,718
0
0
Originally posted by: Slew Foot
This is what Im currently running:

Dell Dimension 8400
P4 3.2 HT
1.5 GB DDR2
PCI-E x700 pro 256MB
Dell 19" LCD (FP 1905 i think)


I'd like to play Oblivion with all the bells and whistles turned on, what card would you recommend and is there anything else I would need to upgrade? I heard the stock power supply isn't strong enough for the high end cards, would I have to change that out? Thanks.

Money isnt really an issue but I dont want to fork over $500 for something that's going to lose half it's value in a couple months.
Click to expand...


what is the power supply in your rig?

if you don't want to upgrade that, you may have to go the 7900GT, however if your PS can handle it, or you don't mind upgrading it as well, i'd go the x1800xt since oblivion is your main concern. not only does it run it better, but it also supports hdr+aa with the beta catalyst driver.

in outside areas with lots of foilage (inside the gt has an advantage, but both cards run 60+ fps easily):

1280 hdr/noaa/8xaf:

GeForce 7900 GT 14fps min 19fps max
Radeon X1800 XT 512MB 26fps min 35fps max

1280 4xaa/8xaf

GeForce 7900 GT 21min fps 29max fps
Radeon X1800 XT 512MB 27min fps 35max fps

not sure why they don't show an aa+hdr bench.. at any rate, if you want hdr, seems the xt takes less of a performance hit running it.. the only concern i'd have going the xt route with your rig is the power supply (and the fact xt is rather noisy, which may or may not bother you).
 
nitromullet

nitromullet

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2004
9,031
36
91
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: nitromullet
not sure why they don't show an aa+hdr bench
Click to expand...

Those benchmarks pre-date the "Chuck" patch.
Click to expand...

didn't they update the crossfire benches using the chuck patch?
Click to expand...

Looks like they did. Maybe they will add some HDR + AA benches. I've decided that I'm going to be a "one card man" for a bit, so I haven't been keeping up with dual card benchmarks.
 
C

CaiNaM

Diamond Member
Oct 26, 2000
3,718
0
0
Originally posted by: nitromullet
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: nitromullet
not sure why they don't show an aa+hdr bench
Click to expand...

Those benchmarks pre-date the "Chuck" patch.
Click to expand...

didn't they update the crossfire benches using the chuck patch?
Click to expand...

Looks like they did. Maybe they will add some HDR + AA benches. I've decided that I'm going to be a "one card man" for a bit, so I haven't been keeping up with dual card benchmarks.
Click to expand...

heh.. me as well. i'd have to go sli or replace the mb; didn't like any of the crossfire boards. having to buy a master card kinda sucks as well :(
 
T

thepd7

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2005
9,423
0
0
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: nitromullet
Originally posted by: CaiNaM
Originally posted by: nitromullet
not sure why they don't show an aa+hdr bench
Click to expand...

Those benchmarks pre-date the "Chuck" patch.
Click to expand...

didn't they update the crossfire benches using the chuck patch?
Click to expand...

Looks like they did. Maybe they will add some HDR + AA benches. I've decided that I'm going to be a "one card man" for a bit, so I haven't been keeping up with dual card benchmarks.
Click to expand...

heh.. me as well. i'd have to go sli or replace the mb; didn't like any of the crossfire boards. having to buy a master card kinda sucks as well :(
Click to expand...

Dongleless crossfire is coming soon (from what I heat). So maybe no master card.
 
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